Methods and apparatuses are provided for controlling a device. In the method, the electronic device displays a control widget corresponding to the at least one device in a lock screen. When a trigger operation on the control widget is detected, the electronic device determines a control instruction corresponding to the control widget. The electronic device sends the control instruction to the at least one device, in which the control instruction is configured to instruct the at least one device to execute a predetermined operation corresponding to the control instruction.