A terminal device sends a directional signal in a direction in which a to-be-controlled device is located, the to-be-controlled device establishes a transmission channel between the to-be-controlled device and the terminal device according to the directional signal, the to-be-controlled device returns a response signal to the terminal device after receiving the directional signal, and the terminal device controls, according to the response signal, an application program corresponding to the to-be-controlled device to start. In this way, a process in which the user uses the terminal device to control the to-be-controlled device, and searches for an application program of the to-be-controlled device is simple, and many application programs do not need to be searched one by one for the required application program.