The present disclosure relates to techniques for managing navigation alerts. The disclosure generally describes an exemplary technique whereby a first device, such as a smartphone, coordinates the timing or sequence of alerts for a navigation instruction on the first device and on a second device, such as a smartwatch. In some examples, the second device presents an alert to a user indicating an event condition has been met before the first device presents a different alert to the user indicating that the same event condition has been met. The alert presented on the second device and the different alert presented on the first device are spaced apart in time by at least a predetermined delay time period, where the predetermined delay time period is based on the event condition. The alert at the second device allows the user to anticipate the alert at the first device.