The present invention discloses a method for acting as a service agent, including: receiving, by a modem, heartbeat configuration information corresponding to an application and sent by an application processor, where the application processor is in a sleep state after sending the heartbeat configuration information corresponding to the application, and establishing, by the modem according to the heartbeat configuration information corresponding to the application, a heartbeat connection with an application server corresponding to the application, so that the application processor is not woken up when the application has no updated content. Solutions provided by embodiments of the present invention can prevent an AP from being frequently woken up, thereby lowering power consumption of a terminal and extending standby time of the terminal.