Can we lock the side menu open/closed permanently?

So I got forced to "upgrade" to the EA app (thanks. i hate it) and now I have a major irritant. That stupid flipping side menu that pops out if your mouse hovers over it and asks you if you want to import some friends from other platforms. Which is unhelpfully right next to the scroll bar. So if I'm trying to scroll and my mouse happens to go just a little too far to the right, I get the pop out and now I can't use the scroll bar. This still happens if you're actively scrolling and your mouse drifts over it.

Can I lock it closed so it won't open unless I deliberately click on it? If not, I would like to loudly suggest that that be an implemented feature. It is very annoying, far too sensitive and way too close to the scroll bar.

If you're going to force me to use the new EA app, then at least make it less terrible to use please and thank you.