With Nano Banana, a new AI image-editing model, Gemini has zoomed to the top of the App Store and turned casual users into daily creators. Appfigures believes the app has seen a 45% month-over-month download increase, having already collected 12.6 million installs so far this month and 8.7 million last month—which is enough to push it past ChatGPT to become the No. 1 app of March in the U.S.
This momentum is not some fleeting blip. Gemini is now one of the top five iPhone apps in 108 countries, according to data shared by Appfigures, and at the moment no other dedicated AI app sits within the App Store’s top 10. The spike goes hand in hand with Nano Banana’s coming out, an indication of a broader trend: image tooling—not just chat tools—is the new on-ramp for mainstream AI adoption.
Nano Banana makes editing a part of your daily routine
Users say Nano Banana takes the wheel on complex edits that used to have to be done in pro software or desktop workflows. Jobs such as background replacement, realistic object insertion, photo clean-up and style-consistent changes have traditionally been made by expert artists using real-time image manipulation. It’s the quality of the output that’s driving sharing on social—and that virality is compounding discovery.
Gemini has 23 million new users who will be opening Instagram for the first time from the day the model launched onwards, Google executive Josh Woodward says; all of them together have shared more than 500 million images. What we’re talking about here is the kind of share-through behavior that drives mobile growth: spikes in assets driving more engagement and leading back around to new downloads and recurring brand consumption.
Chart-topping growth across platforms and stores
In the United States, Gemini went from a previous peak at around number three to the top of the App Store, according to Appfigures. It jumped from 26th to second overall on Google Play. The odd one out: ChatGPT still reigns supreme on Android, proving that platform dynamics can result in different winners even within a single category.
The download base is expanding rapidly. According to Appfigures, Gemini has accumulated 103.7 million installs this year and 185.4 million through iOS and Android in total so far. That footprint would make Gemini one of the largest consumer AI-driven apps out there, a position it’s doubling down on today with the expansion of an image feature set that does well traveling across markets and languages.
Monetization plays catch-up with engagement
Spending among users is also increasing alongside installs. Gemini has made an estimated $6.3 million in revenue on iOS alone this year-to-date, according to data from Appfigures. In the month since Nano Banana became available, spending has climbed to an astonishing $1.6 million, up from $114,000 in the first month of the year—a lift of 1,291%—while receipts mid-month stand at around $792,000 according to payments data—half that for all of last month with days still left in March.
Creative apps typically monetize well on mobile, where they can be sold alongside pro subscriptions as well as higher-res exports and priority processing. Industry watchers at companies including Sensor Tower and data.ai have been consistently listing photo and video tools as one of the highest converting categories; that same trend might be appearing for Gemini now that its visual pipeline is fully in focus.
Why images worked to boost mainstream AI adoption
Text helpers are handy, but images are an emotional payoff. Nano Banana’s rapid, photorealistic outcomes change the character of AI—from a utility to a means of self-expression: A seller can clean product shots in minutes; a job seeker can create professional headshots with ease; travelers make designer postcards without needing pro skills. Every output has social media built right in, and every share is an ad for the tool.
How the model is meant to be experienced—mobile-first—also has an impact. Instead of fussing with layers or desktop plug-ins, users tap, scribble or explain the change they have in mind. Lower cognitive load, tighter feedback loops and believable realism form the triad that pushes people from experimenting to depending—a crucial moment in retention and paid conversion.
The AI race implications for mobile-first imaging
Gemini’s rise above ChatGPT on iOS is suggestive of a larger trend: the next wave of AI victors will be those who marry language models with everyday creation tools that produce visible results in seconds.
Chat is still crucial, but visual workflows are the wedge through which less-technical team members can find their way in. On Android, the competition is still close enough that distribution, default settings and ecosystem loyalties have driven outcomes.
As the volume ramps up, safety and provenance will be equally central. Sehdev calls for one such question to pose the political message of a branded news outlet—a thing that minds like those at Google, whose DeepMind created watermarking tech SynthID (which it has openly supported), are continuing to push for despite opposition from others in industry or government (see: C2PA …) even after some developments have been made by indie initiatives—developments like the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity’s “label” on AI-generated media. Transparency and authenticity will affect not just what platforms allow, but also the degree to which users adopt these tools in their news feeds and marketplaces.
What to watch next as Gemini’s momentum continues
Three signals will tell whether Gemini’s lead sustains: retention after the launch spike; conversion into paid tiers linked to higher-quality renders and throughput; and the rhythm of creator-centric features that slot into workflows (batch edits, brand kits, collaborative projects). On the supply side, efficiency gains and on-device acceleration will be significant as image demand scales to keep latency low (from an offensive perspective) and costs predictable.
If Nano Banana continues to turn casual edits into repeatable habits, Gemini’s run at the top of the charts might be more than just a moment—it could be the template for how AI apps conquer: make creation instant, make results stunning and make sharing easy.