Gemini Rises to the Top of App Store with New AI Image Model Nano Banana

Since August, the Gemini mobile app has experienced a rapid surge in adoption. The launch of its Nano Banana image editing model has received positive feedback from users, particularly those who noted that complex editing and creating realistic images have become significantly easier. According to new data from app intelligence firm Appfigures, the app has climbed to the top of the global app store rankings, with downloads increasing by 45% month-over-month in September.

Despite it only being halfway through the month, Gemini has already achieved 12.6 million downloads in September—up from 8.7 million in August.

Prior to this, Gemini had only reached the No. 3 spot in the U.S. App Store on January 28, 2025.

Shortly after the release of Nano Banana, Gemini rose to No. 2 in the U.S. App Store on September 8. By September 12, it had claimed the top position, pushing OpenAI’s ChatGPT to second place, where it has remained ever since. At present, no other standalone AI apps have entered the top ten in app store rankings.

Data from Appfigures also shows that Gemini now ranks among the top five iPhone apps in 108 countries worldwide.

On Google Play, Gemini jumped from No. 26 in overall U.S. app rankings on September 8 to No. 2 by Monday. However, despite Android being Google’s own platform, ChatGPT still holds the top position at the time of writing.

Google has been actively promoting Gemini’s growth as more mainstream users adopt its new image editing features. For example, Josh Woodward, Vice President of Google Gemini and Google Labs, shared on X that since the release of the Nano Banana model, the app has gained 23 million first-time users who have collectively shared over 500 million images as of September 8.

The app’s rapid growth has also driven a significant increase in consumer spending.

This year, Gemini has generated $6.3 million in revenue from iOS devices, with $1.6 million coming from August alone—most of which was earned following the release of the Nano Banana model. According to Appfigures, this represents a 1,291% increase compared to January’s $115,000.

The app is also expected to meet or even surpass August’s figures in September, having already earned $792,000 so far this month—nearly half of August’s total revenue.

So far this year, the Gemini app has been downloaded 103.7 million times, since its launch on Android in February 2024 and subsequent expansion to iOS later that year.