How Gemini’s Nano Banana Shot It to No. 1 in the App Store

Google’s Gemini app has had a breakout moment. Its image-editing model, nicknamed Nano Banana, launched in August and almost immediately propelled Gemini to the top of app store charts globally, including the No. 1 spot on the U.S. App Store, nudging past ChatGPT.

What’s Driving the Surge

The numbers are striking. According to data from Appfigures:

• Gemini saw a 45 % month-over-month increase in downloads in September vs. August, going from ~8.7 million in August to 12.6 million in the first half of September.

• The app is now a top-five iPhone app overall in 108 countries.

• On Google Play in the U.S., Gemini jumped from the #26 position on September 8 to #2 soon after Nano Banana’s launch.

Google says that since Nano Banana dropped, Gemini has added about 23 million new users, and those users have shared over 500 million images.

Revenue & Downloads: The Money Talk

It’s not just popularity that one is following. Key stats:

• In 2025 so far, Gemini has been downloaded 103.7 million times this year, bringing the lifetime total to ~185.4 million since its Android launch in early 2024 and later iOS arrival.

• On iOS, revenue in August hit $1.6 million, which is massive compared to $115,000 in January—a 1,291% increase.

• Mid-September estimates (half a month) already show ~$792,000 in revenue on iOS, putting it on track to match or beat August.

Why It Resonates — What Users Are Actually Getting

Nano Banana isn’t just editing: it lets people remix visuals, blend images, preserve consistency of faces/pets across edits, add or change background, and stylize pets, selfies, or photos in fun ways like turning them into mini 3D “figurines.”

What seems key: the feature is visually striking, easy to use, and social media-friendly. As one user told The Verge, “I didn’t expect my dog photo to look like something off a toy shelf—and people keep asking ‘how did you do that?’” (paraphrased). That kind of virality is gold.

This could mark a shift in what wins in consumer AI on mobile. Until now, much of the buzz has been around chat, large-language models, assistants, etc. But image editing and generative visuals are proving they can be the hook that drives mass adoption.

For Google, this helps leverage DeepMind and its computational photography strengths. For competitors like OpenAI, Snap, Adobe, etc., it’s a signal that visuals matter as much as text, maybe more, in many casual use cases.

There’s also risk. Viral features tend to have short shelf lives unless backed by steady improvement, privacy safeguards, and monetization that users accept. If the novelty wears off or controversies emerge (e.g., about deepfake misuse, image ownership, etc.), the momentum might falter.

What To Watch Next

Gemini’s Nano Banana has clearly shaken up the AI app landscape. Its success shows that creativity tools with visual flair can be a powerful growth engine.

Going forward, I’ll be watching:

• How Google scales moderation, safeguards, and copyright concerns.

• Whether Gemini can hold onto/user retention beyond the viral spike.

• What counter-moves do competitors make to better visuals? New editing tools? Deep-fake detection?

• Whether revenue can keep pace with not just downloads, especially via subscriptions or premium features.

If it holds, this could be less a “flash in the pan” and more the dawn of an era where image generation trumps purely conversational AI for mainstream mobile users.

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