The company said it had since "continued to expand its capabilities".
The government is set to introduce legislation requiring technology companies to stop children from taking or sharing nude images on smartphones.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told MPs that existing measures proposed by Apple and Google did not go far enough, despite both companies making changes to improve child safety.
The two technology giants, which develop the operating systems used by most smartphones in the UK, were given three months in June to prevent under-18s from accessing nude images on smartphones and other devices.
However, Nandy said that while Apple and Google had made “significant commitments”, their current proposals “do not meet the scale of this crisis”.
The government will therefore look to introduce legislation “as soon as they can”, although it could reconsider the plans if technology companies develop and implement effective solutions sooner.
Under the proposed legislation, technology companies would be required to prevent children from accessing, taking and sharing nude imagery at device level.
Apps used by children would also face requirements to introduce similar protections, extending the measures beyond the operating systems of smartphones.
Nandy said: “This will ensure that the whole ecosystem changes, tackling the means by which children are most often abused or groomed in the online world.”
She told MPs that Apple and Google had already made “meaningful changes” to block nudity on smartphones used by children at the core of their systems.
However, the government believes further action is needed to address the wider risks children face from nude imagery on their devices.
An Apple spokesperson said the company launched its Communication Safety feature in 2021 to help prevent children from seeing or sharing imagery containing nudity.
The company said it had since “continued to expand its capabilities”.
They added: “We share the UK’s commitment to combating exploitation and abuse online, and have shared with UK officials future plans to strengthen Communication Safety and other tools even further to help keep kids safe.”
A Google spokesperson said it was an “industry leader in combating non-consensual intimate imagery and advancing child safety across our products”.
They added that Google was pleased to have “made progress” and remained committed to working on efforts to keep children safe online.
The government’s proposals have been welcomed by organisations and charities calling for stronger measures to prevent children from not only viewing nude images, but also capturing and sharing them.
Ofcom data indicates that smartphone ownership among younger children in the UK is increasing, with ownership becoming more widespread as children get older.
The NSPCC has warned that content filmed on a child’s device can become the starting point for grooming, sexual extortion and other forms of online child sexual abuse.
UK police chiefs have previously identified restrictions on children’s ability to take or share nude images as an important measure in tackling sextortion.
The crimes can involve children being groomed into sharing explicit images before being threatened or blackmailed.
Chris Sherwood, chief executive of the NSPCC, described the government’s legislative plans as a “necessary move” following the failure of technology companies to meet the three-month deadline.
But he said “children cannot face more delays, so Government must act swiftly and ensure these measures are enshrined in law at the earliest opportunity”.
Andy Burrows of the Molly Rose Foundation said the new proposals were “fundamental to their objective”.
However, he described the process of securing them as “a needlessly long and torturous road”.
Burrows added: “Ministers will need to demonstrate they are committed to delivering robust legislation without further delay.”
Measures to prevent children from taking and sharing nude images were initially proposed as part of the government’s strategy on violence against women and girls.
The plans subsequently faced criticism, including within the government’s own ranks over the pace of their implementation.
The proposed legislation would not prevent adults from accessing naked imagery on their devices.
However, implementing protections for children could require technology companies to determine whether a device or app user is an adult or child.
The Open Rights Group has previously raised concerns about the potential privacy implications of the proposals.
The online rights campaign group warned that implementation could mean “every adult would be forced through a digital ID checkpoint, and private images could be scanned by default”.
The government has denied that the proposed measures would amount to surveillance.
