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The Creepiest Facebook Apps

 & Iyaz Akhtar Mobile Writer

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The Creepiest Facebook Apps

Apps have played a large part in Facebook's success. A lot of us geeks have a tendency to avoid them, however, since so many require unfettered access to data that we might want to keep private. As worldly Internet users, we also realize that we can actually leave Facebook.com and for other sites.

However, to a lot of people, Facebook is the Internet. They get their messages on Facebook, share and view photos, plan events, and play games by installing any number of the thousands of freely available Facebook apps. To them, it may not matter that all of these apps are scraping data; they just don't want to leave Facebook.

With features like Places, status updates, and friendship pages, Facebook has a bit of a creepy vibe on its own. There are also a fair share of apps that can make you, the Facebook user, appear to be even creepier.

So what makes an app creepy? That's somewhat subjective, but these are the apps that could make others uneasy or feel a little differently about you after finding out you use those particular apps.

You can easily find which apps you use after a few hundred clicks. Here's how to get there: Account > Privacy Settings > Apps and Websites > Apps you use > Edit Settings. Take a look at the slideshow to see if any of your apps made the list. If so, you may appear creepier to your Facebook friends than you thought.

Breakup Notifier

This app let you keep tabs on your friends' relationship status until it was removed from the Facebook App Directory. The app worked like this: you'd get a notification if the person you were interested in changed his or her relationship status. Then it's up to you to swoop in and swoon your supposed soulmate. The app was recently pulled, but I'm sure there are copycat apps out there already.

What Serial Killer Are You?

Serial killers may be fascinating to criminologists and television writers, but using this app may not be the best idea unless you're trying to scare your friends. Prospective employers don't want to know if you're like Ted Bundy or Jeffery Dahmer.

Sex Skills

"Grade your friends on their sex performance and discover how good you are in bed!" Nope, I'm not making that up. A little secret—Facebook data is far from private by default, so you might not want to get caught using this app unless... I don't know how to finish that sentence.

Pending Friend Requests

Here's the scenario: you make a friend request , and it vanishes into the ether. Time passes, and you don't remember if that person friended you or not. That's where the Pending Friend Requests app comes in. It tells you who has not responded to your friend requests. Here's where there's a creepy fork in the road—do you contact that person for not accepting your request or just let it go?

Hugging

Facebook's built in "Poking" feature is a little strange on its own, but there are also a number of hugging apps. Now this app is probably less creepy if used sparingly. However, if you're a serious professional, you might want to think twice before going around hugging everyone. We're not saying hugging is bad, but in app form it might be a little weird.

Death Clock

We all think about our own mortally from time to time. There are lots of industries revolving around your death, like life insurance. However, using the "Death's Time" app will place the information in your Facebook feed. The question is, do you want people to know you're looking into your own death right now?

Appear Offline

Facebook is all about socializing and reconnecting with your friends, but why would you want to talk to them? Appear Offline is an app that lets you see who is online in Facebook Chat. While this seems very useful, if your friends found out you use it with any regularity, they might think you're an anti-social weirdo.

Hotties for Sale!

The Hotties for Sale! game is somewhat educational as you learn about by buying and selling your hot friends. If the commodity was almost anything else other than hot friends, this might seem less creepy. Even stranger, there are number of app clones based on this concept.

Honesty Box

On its face, the Honesty Box seems like a simple app where people can leave anonymous messages, but it can quickly turn creepy depending on what kind of messages you receive or send. One review says this is an "awesome way for cowardly people to hide behind the Internet." The discussion section on the app's Facebook page is rife with people trying to find out why other people are not their friends.

Deleted and New Friends Checker

Who knows why people unfriend each other. Some are accidental and others are purposeful. If you'd like to see why your number of friends keeps dwindling, you can use the Deleted and New Friends Checker app. Using it is sort of creepy though. If you're being unfriended with any regularity, maybe it's time to take a look at your own status updates to see what's up.

About Our Expert

Iyaz Akhtar

Iyaz Akhtar

Mobile Writer

My Experience

I've been into technology for as long as I can remember. As a PCMag mobile writer, I get to test the newest phones and tablets. Since you rely on our buying advice, I make sure you get everything a manufacturer claims, which means lots of testing. This is your phone we're talking about; it's like a part of you. I've covered technology as a career for around two decades (yikes, I had to think about that). You've seen my work at The Apple Blog, PCMag (from my first go around), This Week in Tech, and CNET. I also occasionally produce independent video projects, including This Old Nerd, a how-to series that shows practical ways to get the most from your tech.

The Technology I Use

I use a 2023 M3 MacBook Pro customized with lots of keyboard shortcuts thanks to Raycast. Pixelmator Pro is my go-to photo editing application because there is no subscription, and I'm trapped with Evernote because I've used it forever.

I'm between phones at the moment, but I use a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 now, and used a Z Fold 6 before that. Considering that I like to have multiple windows open at once, the large inner screen of folding phones can show a baseball game on the top while I keep a chat app and Reddit open beneath. I do miss being able to write on the Z Fold 7's screen, though, which has me eyeing a Galaxy S25 Ultra.

My home is semi-smart, with many Google Home products that I thoroughly enjoyed in the pre-Gemini days. Be warned: smart bulbs are a gateway drug into smart home life.

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