Does the Apple Watch work on tattooed skin?

I am sleeved on my left arm, down to wrist. It will not detect my standing & pauses every 30-60 second’s during my workouts. I switched it to my right arm today during my workout & it tracked it smoothly the entire 80 minute workout. Hopefully I can get a good reading on my standing tomorrow

Per the Apple Website:

Permanent or temporary changes to your skin, such as some tattoos, can also impact heart rate sensor performance. The ink, pattern, and saturation of some tattoos can block light from the sensor, making it difficult to get reliable readings.

Your heart rate. What it means, and where on Apple Watch you’ll find it. - Apple Support

Hi, unsure if they s will help you but my father recently had the same issue. Both his wrist are tattoo' and certain functions did not work. He applied the clear part of a waterproof plaster over his tattoo, where the watch sits, and everything now works. It may be due to his tattoo's being fairly old but it worked all the same. Without the clear plaster these features stop working again.

Hopefully it's not a fluke and it may work for others too, Rachel.

Yes. The problem with tattoos became apparent shortly after the Apple Watch was released. Since it is the ink that is place under the skin to make the tattoo there is not much that Apple can do about them.

Hi! Initially when I purchased my Apple Watch in 2015 I had a lot of issues with the placement of my watch. On my left wrist a I have very dark black rose tattoo and my right wrist a lighter black tattoo. I’ve had to put my watch on my right wrist, I have to use the watch without the passcode lock on and it works just fine. I didn’t have any issues with the heart rate monitor or any of the other features except the passcode lock, it wouldn’t notify my of alerts because it didn’t register it being worn, that’s the only drawback to having a tattoo and the AW. I now have the AWS3 w/cellular, so for me it’s not a big deal.

I have the same issue. My left arm is sleeved down to the wrist. After spending several chat sessions and one phone call, we discovered that if I wear the watch on my non tattooed arm everything works fine. Additionally, if I turn off wrist detection and put it back on my left I can get all of my notifications. That said, when I use it in this fashion it doesn't ever register that I'm standing. Ever. And I'm on my feet 14 hours a day on average.

I don't love that these are my options. Ideally, they will come up with a patch that allows all of the functionality with the wrist detection off. Hopefully this helps. Opposite wrist or detection off appear to be the best options.