The invention discloses an application downloading method, a device, a storage medium and a terminal, belonging to the technical field of the Internet. The method comprises: when an application download operation is detected in an instant messaging application, invoking a download plug-in of the instant messaging application so that the download plug-in sends identification information of a targetapplication to be downloaded to an application download platform, wherein the application download platform is used for obtaining a download link of the target application when it is determined thatthe identification information is contained in an identification information list; receiving the download link sent by the application download platform so that the download plug-in downloads the target application from the application download platform according to the download link. The invention realizes the safe downloading of the application, can prevent the application from being interceptedand replaced in the downloading process, or being implanted with virus, etc., and the effect of the application downloading mode is better.