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Your Pixel Watch works better offline than you’d think—here’s how you should actually use it


Ever wanted to leave your phone at home when you head out on a run? You can — and there are plenty of things your Google Pixel Watch can do offline, even when your phone is left behind. From navigation to safety, there are several features that will still work on your smartwatch, without relying on your mobile. Here are a few things you may not know your Pixel Watch can do all on its own.

Pixel Watch 4

8/10

Heart Rate Monitor

Yes

Color Screen

Yes


Never get lost again with offline maps

Whether you’ve got your phone or not

Perfect for when you’re planning a run or heading on a drive to a new area, the Pixel Watch can download maps and navigation assistance that can be used offline, so you never have to take a wrong turn again.

This is a super handy feature for those who enjoy outdoor exercise and adventures that some users report they use “extensively”. The offline mapping feature, which some users may not have known they could do, is designed to work when your phone isn’t nearby or for areas with little to no signal. This makes it ideal if you regularly go for runs and don’t fancy taking your phone with you, or for traveling in areas where you may not have cell reception.

It’s worth noting you’ll need Wi-Fi to set this up, so you will have to make sure you download the maps and directions you need before you leave the house. Downloading Maps has to be done from your phone, but you can manually sync them to your Pixel Watch by opening Google Maps and scrolling down to “Offline Maps.”

In case of emergency…

Your watch can call for help when you can’t

Pixel Watch with Pixel phone in background Credit: Joe Fedewa / How-To Geek

Much like with Samsung Galaxy Watches, the Google Pixel Watch also comes with a crucial feature that doesn’t just save you from getting lost – it could save your life. It’s become the standard for popular smartwatch brands to incorporate emergency safeguards like fall detection, crash detection, etc., which could come in clutch for users with health conditions or who are often doing outdoor activities (i.e., climbing, hiking).

Both Samsung and Apple watches come equipped with fall detection and crash detection as well, but both the Pixel Watch 3 and 4 come with a Loss of Pulse Detection safety setting, which you can enable in the Personal Safety settings.

You can also set up the SOS feature to call an emergency contact (and/or emergency services), even if you don’t have a signal. Using satellite SOS or Safety Signal means you don’t have to have an active cell phone nearby to contact help. This could be especially useful for those who travel frequently or partake in outdoor activities that could put them in danger. You can also still use Find My Phone from your watch, without the need for Wi-Fi.

Count every single step

It isn’t just maps that your watch can store

Pixel Watch 3 bike workout screen. Credit: Joe Fedewa / How-To Geek

Much like Garmin watches, Google Pixel Watches are excellent for tracking all aspects of your fitness. Whether you’re counting steps, monitoring sleep, or checking your heart rate, your watch can do it every minute of every day — even when it’s offline.

Your Pixel Watch comes armed with a built-in standalone GPS, which can accurately track distance, pace, and location even when you’re not in range of a mobile. So anytime you forget your phone at home or don’t fancy taking it with you, know that your workout isn’t for nothing. Once your watch reconnects to your phone’s network, all the data will download and be stored as normal.

Beyond that, you can initiate and record exercises offline and still accumulate data. All the metrics your watch natively tracks can be synced with the Google Health apps (formerly Fitbit) when you’re next in range of Wi-Fi or connected to your mobile. Plus, your heart rate, general activity levels, sleep data, and more will also be compiled, even when your watch isn’t connected to Wi-Fi or your phone.

And a bit extra

Say goodbye to the silence

Other handy features your watch can do when your phone isn’t nearby include contactless payments and all of your average utilities (timers, alarms, reminders etc.). But that’s not all — you can also enjoy offline playback of all your favorite tracks with Spotify and YouTube Music.

You can download your go-to work-out playlists straight to your smartwatch, and listen to them without needing your phone in your pocket. Perfect if you like listening to a podcast on your daily commute or love jamming out to upbeat songs on your morning run, your watch can store all of your audio preferences without needing Wi-Fi or signal.

Galaxy Watch Spotify controller. Credit: Joe Fedewa / How-To Geek

Is there anything your smartwatch can’t do?

Put plainly, the capabilities of your watch, even when you’re not near your phone, are huge. The only things you can’t do without a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection to your smartphone are make calls and receive texts. You can still compile all the fitness data you could possibly want, track your jogging routes, monitor your sleep schedule, get directions from Google Maps, listen to music, and contact emergency services if you have an accident. Is there anything else you could possibly want from your smartwatch? Personally, I think not.



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Ghost CMS flaw abused to push ClickFix attacks on hundreds of sites


Ghost CMS flaw abused to push ClickFix attacks on hundreds of sites

Pierluigi Paganini
May 25, 2026

Threat actors are actively exploiting a security flaw, tracked as CVE-2026-26980, in Ghost CMS that was fixed months ago in real attacks against unpatched websites. According to Qianxin, the campaign has already affected more than 700 sites, including well-known organizations and universities.

The vulnerability is an SQL injection issue in Ghost’s Content API that can let an attacker read data from the database without logging in. In the worst case, this can expose the Admin API key, which can allow attackers to take over the site.

That key matters because it can be used to change published content. In this campaign, attackers used it to edit articles on compromised Ghost sites and insert malicious JavaScript at the end of pages. The goal was not just defacement, but to turn trusted websites into launch points for further malware delivery.

“After an in-depth investigation and analysis, we determined that this was not a targeted intrusion against the customer, but rather a large-scale poisoning campaign by an in-the-wild attack group targeting Ghost CMS. Although CVE-2026-26980 was publicly disclosed as early as February 19, a large number of users did not patch and upgrade in time, providing an opportunity for attackers.” reads the advisory published by Qianxin. “At least two groups are currently actively conducting such poisoning operations, and some sites have even become the target of competition between the two parties, with different malicious code being implanted one after another within a single day.”

The inserted code led visitors through a two-step chain. First, the page loaded a remote script that checked the browser and decided what the visitor should see. Then real victims were redirected to a fake verification page that looked like a normal “I’m human” check.

This is where the ClickFix part began. The page told users to press Windows+R, paste a command, and hit Enter. In practice, that command downloaded and started a malware payload on the victim’s machine. It was a classic social engineering trick: make the user do the dangerous part themselves.

Qianxin says the first signs of this activity appeared in early May. The malicious code found in the campaign had a compilation date of February 16, the same day Ghost announced the fix for CVE-2026-26980. That suggests the attackers moved quickly once they saw how many sites had not been updated.

The affected websites cover a wide range of sectors. Roughly half are personal blogs or independent sites, but the list also includes technology blogs, AI sites, media outlets, crypto projects, and educational institutions. Qianxin researchers say victims include sites linked to Harvard, Oxford, and DuckDuckGo.

The attack chain was also designed to be flexible. The loaders could fetch different payloads depending on the target, and the operators changed infrastructure several times.

“entire attack process has obvious five-stage characteristics of “CMS Takeover → Page Poisoning → Two-stage Loading → Social Engineering Lure (FakeCaptcha/ClickFix) → Malware Delivery”, and the entire process is highly automated: bulk vulnerability scanning → automatic key extraction → bulk injection → dynamic C2 distribution.” states the report.

In some cases, they switched domains after detection, keeping the campaign alive even when part of the chain was blocked.

“Through feature scanning of publicly accessible pages, we have cumulatively identified more than 700 poisoned victim domains, and have proactively contacted the sites for which contact information could be obtained, notifying them of the poisoning.” continues the report.

Qianxin also believes at least two different groups are involved. In some cases, the same site was hit more than once, with one attacker replacing the code left by another. That makes the campaign harder to clean up and shows how attractive compromised Ghost sites have become for abuse.

For site owners, the advice is straightforward. Ghost should be updated immediately, all credentials should be rotated, and site logs should be reviewed for suspicious admin API activity. Any injected scripts should be removed from the database itself, not just from the visual editor. Visitors who may have reached a poisoned site should also be warned.

The report includes Indicators of Compromise (IoCs) for the attacks observed by the researchers.

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Ghost CMS)





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