Image AI models are now fueling app growth, outpacing chatbot upgrades

Image form releases drive growth for AI-powered mobile apps, generating 6.5x more downloads than traditional form updates, according to a new report from app intelligence provider Appfigures.

This represents a shift from the previous days, when the release of new models that support conversational experiences drove demand, along with new features such as a voice chat interface.

For example, ChatGPT and Gemini both added tens of millions of new downloads after releasing their image templates, Appfigures found.

For Google’s Gemini, the release of the Nano Banana image model generated over 22 million additional downloads in 28 days after the launch of the Gemini 2.5 Flash image model last August. The data showed that this launch led to an increase in application downloads by more than 4 times during that period.

Meanwhile, ChatGPT added over 12 million additional installs in 28 days after introducing the GPT-4o image model in March last year. This is approximately 4.5 times more downloads than the GPT-4o, GPT-4.5, and GPT-5 model versions, Appfigures noted.

Other model versions followed similar trends, but on a smaller scale. Meta AI’s introduction of AI Vibes video feed added an estimated 2.6 million additional downloads in the 28 days after its release in September 2025. (Yes, technically, this is a video template, but ultimately it’s about visual content, not just text.)

However, the report cautioned that additional downloads do not always translate into increased mobile revenue.

Instead, new photo template releases give people a reason to install the app and try out its enhanced photo creation capabilities. This does not mean that they will necessarily turn into paid subscribers. For example, Appfigures noted that Nano Banana generated only $181,000 in total estimated consumer spending during the 28-day period following its release, even though it produced a larger spike in downloads than ChatGPT’s 4o image model release.

The launch of Meta AI for Vibes also resulted in additional downloads, but without significant revenue.

Of the three, only ChatGPT has converted the increased interest into actual dollars.

Appfigures said OpenAI’s Image Generation Model 40 led to an estimated $70 million in total consumer spending over the 28 days after its launch, compared to the previous baseline.

The company also looked to DeepSeek in its analysis, but it didn’t fit the pattern.

Although DeepSeek R1 achieved 28 million downloads after its release in January 2025, it was not a typical model comparison event. This was DeepSeek’s breakout moment, when it went from being relatively unknown to an overnight sensation as the tech industry learned about the techniques it uses to train its own AI models at a fraction of the cost of its competitors. This case highlights how curiosity can lead to downloads – although in this case, interest was not tied to the image template.