Embodiments of the present invention disclose an application heartbeat period adjusting method and apparatus, and a terminal, and in the embodiments, it is determined, according to an identifier of an application, that the application is in a heartbeat adjustment blacklist. A first heartbeat period of the application is adjusted to a second heartbeat period according to a preset trigger heartbeat period. The heartbeat adjustment blacklist includes an identifier of an application on which a heartbeat period adjustment needs to be performed, the first heartbeat period of the application is an original heartbeat period of the application, the second heartbeat period is a heartbeat period, which is adjusted according to the preset trigger heartbeat period, of the application, and the preset trigger heartbeat period is an adjustment period according to which the first heartbeat period is adjusted.