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Google Gemini tops app store charts in India amid viral Nano Banana AI trend

Google’s Gemini Nano Banana AI: The rapid rise of the Gemini app in the charts follows a sudden rise in popularity resulting from Google’s new image-editing AI model dubbed Nano Banana.

The image tool has already been added to several Google products, including Google Search's AI Mode and NotebookLM, and is also being developed for integration into Google Photos and Google Lens. (Image: Google)

Google’s Gemini AI chatbot app has taken the No. 1 spot on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store India charts, just days after the tech giant’s Nano Banana image-editing AI model sparked a new viral trend of AI-generated images on social media.

The Gemini for iPhone app is also the top free app in the US App Store, according to a report by 9to5 Google. The app is reportedly in second position in Canada and the United Kingdom.

The rapid rise of the Gemini app in the charts follows a sudden surge in popularity resulting from Google’s Nano Banana AI model which has reportedly been used to edit over 500 million images since its launch last month. Between August 26 and September 9, the Gemini app has reportedly witnessed over 23 million new users.

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Gemini is one of the few AI chatbot apps after DeepSeek to dethrone OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which has long dominated app store charts globally. The recent surge in Gemini users also underscores how viral trends are driving the adoption of AI-powered apps. Earlier this year, ChatGPT saw a similar spike in downloads after its image-generation update sparked the wildly popular ‘Ghibli AI trend’ on social media.

The Gemini viral trend centers on Google’s new Nano Banana AI model, which lets users upload multiple photos and generate fresh images in specific styles or seamlessly edited to include a famous celebrity. The feature can be used to generate or edit up to 100 images per day for free. However, you can use Nano Banana to generate or edit 1,000 images if you are a Gemini AI Pro or Ultra subscriber.

What is Nano Banana? How to use it?

While Google’s Gemini AI chatbot already had the ability to create AI-generated images, the results haven’t always been the most impressive. Google DeepMind unit’s new AI model, dubbed ‘Nano Banana’, is officially called Gemini 2.5 Flash Image. It works similarly to most AI image editing tools: you upload an image and describe the changes you want.

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To edit an image using Nano Banana, open Google AI Studio and sign in with your Gmail account. Alternatively, you can use Google Gemini. Once you open it, you will see a banner at the top that says: NEW! Try image editing with our best image model, Nano Banana. From there, simply upload an image, write a prompt, and your edited image will be ready in a few seconds.