This article presents a study in which we analyse the didactic use of tablets in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The competential and didactic use of mobile devices is a challenge for lecturers, students and universities alike. In the current university system, mobile devices play a key role that requires rigorous analysis to open up new channels of participation and didactic design in accordance with the EHEA. The research is contextualised in a sample of 419 students from three Spanish public universities: Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), University of Oviedo and National University of Distance Education (UNED), Spain. Through a quantitative and qualitative methodological approach, we proceeded to analyse the life stories of students who are familiar with tablets and use them in both their personal lives and for their university studies. The results show that this mobile device can be a useful resource in information processing, content access and creation, and generic competency development in line with the Dublin Descriptors and the main recommendations of the Tuning, Reflex and EUConverge European projects.