San Francisco, Apr 20 (IANS): Apple has approved conservative social media app Parler's return to the iOS app store following improvements the company made to better detect and moderate hate speech.

According to a letter the iPhone maker sent to Congress, since the app was removed from Apple's platform in January for violations of its policies, Parler "has proposed updates to its app and the app's content moderation practices".

On April 14, Apple's app review team told Parler that its proposed changes were sufficient, the letter continued. Now, all Parler needs to do is to flip the switch, CNN reported on Monday.

"Apple anticipates that the updated Parler app will become available immediately upon Parler releasing it," Apple's letter said.

Parler, an alternative to Facebook and Twitter that bills itself as a haven for free speech, was removed from major tech platforms in early January following the US Capitol riots of January 6, the report said.

Parler was kicked off of Apple and Google's app stores, as well as Amazon Web Services, which had been hosting the company's product.

The app came back online on February 15, but not before Parler's CEO was terminated by its board. It took another two months for Apple to give its approval restoring Parler to its app store, according to the report.