Smartphones accompany international students as they adapt to different contexts during their stay abroad. In this empirical study, we examined how a group of international students (n=10) in France used their smartphones during the eight-week lockdown that imposed on everyone a stay-at-home order and allowed minimal physical contact (April and May 2020). We collected data about students' use thanks to a self-tracking app and interviews. Drawing on literature from the fields of language education, communication, and psychology, we considered advantages and limitations of smartphone use by international students pertaining to three aspects of their lives: (1) emotional management; (2) language and culture learning; and (3) sociocultural adaptation. Since international students were in the host country, but without the social life on campus that usually makes immersion abroad so special, this study led us to reflections about immersion and inclusion in education abroad.