But there is some good news: You no longer have to suffer a social media meltdown, because there are ways to expertly get rid of all the Facebook app nonsense once and for all.
Updated Aug. 11, 2014: This article has been updated to include an instructional video.
If you hate it, block it
You can’t stop your countless friends from loving the crap out of Candy Crush, but you can stop the invites from coming in every single day. Just click on the gear icon on the top-right corner of the screen and hit Account Settings. Once you’re in, click on the Blocking tab.
Scroll down to “Block app invites” and enter the names of friends you constantly receive requests from. Don’t feel bad for doing this – unless you enter your contacts’ names into the “Block users” section, you won’t stop being friends with any of your game-loving pals. You just bar them from getting you involved.
You can also go on a rampage and block all the apps your heart does not desire through the “Block apps” option. Don’t let the warning scare you – not getting contacted forever is what you want, right?
Additionally, you can access all the invites you have received in one page by going to Facebook’s AppCenter under Requests. There you can also block future invites for a specific app, stop a certain user from sending you requests, or both.
Put a stop to the notifications
Stopping the onslaught on game invite notifications is actually as simple as clicking an X button next to the offending notice. Yes, it would be oh-so-nice if Facebook could learn that after clicking “no” 37 times, you don’t want to play. But it’s just not that smart (or maybe it’s laziness), so turn ’em off.
The app will then give you a last-minute chance to change your mind by offering to keep the notifications on, but if you really mean business, go ahead and click on Turn Off. This action will stop notifications related to the app from coming into your Facebook account.
Purge app activity from your News Feed
There is currently no way of getting rid of sponsored game advertisements, but you can get rid of all stories about your friend’s progress on the games they play. Hiding posts doesn’t make you less of a friend, but it will help you experience ignorant bliss.
If you want to hide all activities related to the game, just click on the “Hide all stories” link.
Let the app cleansing mojo flow
Doing all this game app-blocking business may have put you in a cleaning mood, so why not go the extra mile? Check out the apps you yourself have installed in the past and delete those you don’t use anymore by clicking on the X next to the app. You can also modify the visibility of your app’s posts on your behalf by clicking on the Settings link.
You can also access a simpler version of your apps list through Account Settings (gear icon, top-right corner), where you can easily edit app permissions or delete unwanted apps by hitting X.
You can also delete all your account activity related to the app being deleted.
