Smartphone use is prevalent among university students in and out of instructional settings. This study aimed to describe smartphone use of university students in a developing country, focusing on the purposes, the patterns and the situations of smartphone use. The participants of this study were 842 university students studying in 101 different universities. A cross-sectional survey method was employed in the study. Regarding use patterns, the majority of university students have been using their smartphones for about 3 years, mostly at nights and/or in the evenings, and approximately 5 hours a day. Also, they connect to the Internet about 4 hours via their smartphones a day, and check their smartphones 28 times a day on average. The results indicated that the most frequent smartphone use purpose is texting and talking with someone, followed by checking social media and doing Internet search, while the less frequent purpose is shopping. Smartphones are mostly used by university students to spend free time when bored, alone, and/or waiting for someone. Concerning the implications, the time of sending should be carefully considered before sending course related emails or lecture notes. The most essential or important information, reminder or notification should be sent in the evenings and/or at nights. The messages or course related information should be sent in small chunks. Moreover, the daily routine of the students should be followed in order to benefit from smartphones for learning purposes. As students use their smartphones during lectures, and they will continue using them, effective ways to integrate them into learning must be found.