Tattoos and faulty components are causing problems for Apple as the Company struggles to roll out their new Watch.
According to a report by WSJ Logistics a component made by one of only two suppliers has been found to be faulty resulting in Apple having to scale back delivery of the new Watch to stores.
It’s also been discovered that Tattoos are preventing the heart monitor from working properly on the new device because the patterned skin of a tattoo interrupts the green and infrared light emitted by the device.
Apple uses a flashing green LED light to detect the amount of blood flowing through the veins of the wrist – thereby deducing your heart rate.
Those who have been lucky enough to lay their hands on the $799 entry level watch over a tattoo have discovered that light is reflected and the Apple Watch can’t confirm that it’s making contact with skin.
Along with the much-hyped fitness features of the Watch, standard notifications are also affected.
“The watch would lock up every time the screen went dark and prompted me for my password. I wouldn’t receive notifications. I couldn’t figure out why especially since the watch was definitely not losing contact with my skin,” wrote one Reddit user.
“My hand isn’t tattooed and the Watch stayed unlocked. Once I put it back on the area that is tattooed with black ink the watch would automatically lock again.”
Another problem for Apple is that a key part involved in the so-called tactic engine, which was designed by Apple to produce the sensation of being tapped on the wrist is failing.
The Wall Street Journal said that after mass production began in February, reliability testing revealed that some tactic engines supplied by AAC Technologies Holdings in China, started to break down over time, the people familiar with the matter said. One of those people said Apple scrapped some completed watches as a result.
Taptic engines produced by a second supplier, Japan’s Nidec, didn’t experience the same problem as a result Apple has moved nearly all of its production of the component to Nidec claim insiders.
The tactic engine is one of the key technologies that Apple created for the Watch, its taps designed to be less intrusive than ringing, buzzing or other ways to get a user’s attention.
The engine uses a motor to move a small rod back and forth. This motion creates the sensation of a gentle tapping. The tactic engine also powers another Watch feature: the ability to send your heartbeat to others.
On Monday, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said “demand is greater than supply” for the Watch, but didn’t disclose sales or orders. Asked about the production schedule, Mr. Cook said he is “generally happy” with the progress, while noting that it always takes time to expand capacity with a new product.
He said he expects that Apple will be able to make the Watch available in more countries-beyond the initial nine-in late June. He also noted that Apple was able to accelerate delivery times for people who had preordered the Watch.
Apple has also given several app developers the bird especially ones whose apps only deliver the time.
Yesterday Apple updated its developer guidelines to explicitly state Apple Watch app submissions that focus only on telling the time will be rejected.
Section 10.7 of the submission rules says: “Watch Apps whose primary function is telling time will be rejected.”
The update seems to suggest time-telling is allowed within Apple Watch apps, so long as it is not the main focus of the app.
Apple Watch users are limited to the choice of 10 pre-installed faces on the device, with some customisation options, such as the ability to add alarms and activity data.
The company wrote: “Apple Watch includes a variety of watch faces, any of which you can customize to suit you. Check frequently for software updates; the set of watch faces that follows might differ from what you see on your Apple Watch. “
