Published on: Sept 19, 2025 04:31 pm IST
Google Gemini shared a thread showing Nano Banana restoring and colourising old photos, as users brought cherished memories back to life.
Google Gemini’s Nano Banana feature has taken social media by storm and continues to trend globally. What started as a playful tool for creating 3D-style portraits has now found a new purpose. People are discovering how the feature can breathe new life into old photographs by restoring, refining and colourising them.
(Also read: Gemini AI reimagines Indian billionaire with his 16-year-old self: ‘We made it’)
Google Gemini shares heartwarming uses
The official X account of the Google Gemini App recently highlighted the most touching applications of Nano Banana in a dedicated thread. The post reads, “The most unexpected and heartwarming use of Nano Banana? Photo restoration. See how people are bringing their cherished memories to life with Gemini by refining, unblurring, and colorising old photos.”
In a dedicated thread, the account shared examples from users who showcased the power of AI in reviving family histories and preserving cultural heritage.
Bringing the past back to life
Among the examples reshared was a photograph from 1890 restored and colourised by a user named Thomas. The couple’s portrait, once blurred with age, now appears with renewed clarity and vibrancy.
Another highlight came from user Jay Rodge, who demonstrated how Gemini colourised vintage photos of a Southeast Asian couple, breathing fresh life into monochrome images.
Check out the post here:
Similarly, Derya Unutmaz presented restored historical photos, proving that the tool is not just for family albums but also for broader cultural memory.
User named Hus took the restoration a step further by reviving a family photograph and then animating it using Veo 3, allowing past generations to move again in the digital era.
Popularity soars globally
The Nano Banana feature has been a key driver behind Gemini’s surge in popularity. Reports suggest that between 26 August and 9 September, the Google Gemini app gained more than 23 million new users. In the same period, over 500 million images were created with Nano Banana.
This rise has been so rapid that Gemini has overtaken OpenAI’s ChatGPT to become the most popular free app across both Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store.
