Here's One Reason Gemini Is Dominating ChatGPT On Mobile

Artificial intelligence (AI) has risen fast for public use, and apps like Google's Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT compete for dominance in the mobile market. They both come with free versions and paid tiers for those who use AI more frequently. General users enjoy the free features both offer, such as simple chatbot functionality, help with schoolwork, writing, editing, and image generation. Though both offer plenty of similar functions, Google Gemini just edges out ChatGPT for mobile users because of its new image editing tool.

ChatGPT released its app on the Google Play Store in July 2023. Since then, it has been downloaded over 500 million times on Android alone. By contrast, Google Gemini released almost a year later for mobile in February 2024. Despite the near-year difference, it still has the same amount of mobile downloads. Google Gemini takes up a mere 5 MB of space on an Android, compared to ChatGPT's 62 MB. Both apps can be downloaded through the Google Play Store for free, allowing you to upgrade to a paid plan later if you want to.

Google Gemini released its improved image editing tool in August 2025, popularly referred to early on as Nano Banana. This feature skyrocketed the number of downloads of Gemini. The popularity of this feature has been one key reason for Google Gemini's recent success over ChatGPT.

The improved image editor offers a simple, streamlined editing process. It appeals to those inexperienced with more advanced tools like Adobe's Photoshop. It also appeals to those who prefer the efficiency and simplicity of the app that is easy to use on a mobile device. Of course, being free is definitely a big plus in this age where good image editing software often does not come cheap.

This feature boasts consistent character generation, meaning if you ask for editing photos of yourself or family members it will keep people's images consistent. This is important since even subtle changes in facial features can make someone look like an entirely different person. You can ask it to give you a different haircut or put you in a different outfit. You can have it combine multiple images into one scene. You can easily change the backdrop, edit things out, and even go through multiple rounds of revisions with Gemini without a loss of fidelity to the key aspects of the picture.

All this is done with simple text-based commands. You don't need to learn new tools, memorize icons, or download specific settings. That makes it accessible to the average user. For safety reasons, Gemini puts an AI watermark on any AI-edited images just like DALL-E images do. This helps ensure the image editor to be used only as a fun tool and not for scam purposes.

If you are a loyal Google user, then Gemini offers better integration specifically for Google apps. This makes it more appealing than ChatGPT which is much broader. ChatGPT must be manually tied to your Google accounts and given more specific instructions on what to analyze. ChatGPT also cannot access your Gmail. Gemini, in comparison, has no such limitations. That said, ChatGPT now supports apps like Spotify, Expedia, and Zillow too.

Gemini can easily get information from your Google-associated apps like Maps, Gmail, Drive, Flights, your Calendar, and more. This means more streamlined trip planning when you combine information from Google Maps, Google Flights, and Google Hotels. It also means it can easily search your email for information that you need, or access complex documents that you keep stored on your Drive.

Though both ChatGPT and Google Gemini offer similar features, this time it's Gemini that is attracting users on mobile. Its text-based image editing feature is powerful and easy to use. Its seamless integration with Google apps means people who use Google for multiple aspects of life management have a more holistic experience overall and fewer hoops to jump through. It will be interesting to see how ChatGPT and Gemini fare against one another across the next year.