The embodiment of the invention provides an application control method and device. The method comprises the following steps: detecting current application scenario of a terminal, and searching for the performance parameter threshold corresponding to current application scenario of the terminal according to a preset scene performance parameter mapping table; obtaining current current parameter or/and current temperature parameter of the terminal, and judging whether the current current parameter or current temperature parameter of the terminal exceeds the performance parameter threshold corresponding to current application scenario of the terminal; and if the current current parameter or current temperature parameter of the terminal exceeds the performance parameter threshold corresponding to current application scenario of the terminal, searching a preset program application grade mapping table for at least one application of the lowest application grade currently in a running state, and exiting the found at least one application of the lowest application grade. Through the invention, the data processing speed and application fluency of the terminal can be improved while the operation convenience of the thermal is enhanced.