Sorry for the late reply but yes, there is a setting for this. Auto follow is one setting for the forums and app, which should not have changed by just installing the app.
If you on on desktop, goto your preferences and make sure " Automatically watch threads that you create or when you reply..." Is not checked. In the app, we have the same setting you can toggle if that is more convenient for you.
If you are still having issues let me know and I can take a deeper look into what's not working correctly for you.