Google Gemini tops Apple App Store charts with Nano Banana boost

Google Gemini has surged to the top spot on the Apple App Store’s free apps chart, overtaking rivals such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Elon Musk's Grok, in both India and the US as of Friday evening. Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, lauded the Gemini team on social media, saying this was “just the start”.


Behind Gemini’s leap is the viral “Nano Banana” image editing tool launched in August. The tool has spurred social media trends akin to the Ghibli Studio trend which drove high engagement and viral online popularity for ChatGPT in the summer. In one of the trends, users are turning their photos into hyper-realistic 3D figurines, complete with acrylic bases and collector-style packaging by uploading and prompting the Gemini app.


This has captivated public figures and everyday users alike, especially in India, where politicians and celebrities have also joined the trend with millions of images being created so far.

Also Read: ETtech Explainer: Is Google’s Nano Banana AI better than OpenAI’s Sora, Adobe's Firefly, others?

Gemini’s rise points to the cut-throat competition among chatbots. OpenAI’s ChatGPT has a massive global user base, but Google Gemini uses its core strengths to attract users, like native multimodality and integration with Google’s ecosystem.

The Google chatbot's rise in App Store rankings also comes when billionaire Musk has been alleging that Grok is being kept away from top rankings on purpose. In August, Musk sued Apple, alleging practices that favour OpenAI’s ranking over competitors. Soon after Musk’s criticism though, other AI apps, including Gemini, have recently reached the top position, countering his claims of bias.