Image AI models now drive app growth, beating chatbot upgrades

Image exemplary releases are driving maturation for AI mobile apps, generating 6.5 times much downloads than accepted exemplary updates, according to a caller study from app quality supplier Appfigures.

This marks a displacement from earlier days, erstwhile the merchandise of new models powering the conversational experiences drove much demand, alongside the caller features similar a voice chat interface.

For instance, ChatGPT and Gemini each added tens of millions of caller downloads aft releasing their respective representation models, Appfigures found.

For Google’s Gemini, the merchandise of its representation exemplary Nano Banana drove an further 22+ cardinal downloads successful the 28 days pursuing the instauration of the Gemini 2.5 Flash representation exemplary past August. This motorboat lifted the app’s downloads by much than 4 times implicit that period, the information showed.

Image Credits:Appfigures

Meanwhile, ChatGPT added much than 12 cardinal incremental installs successful the 28 days aft the instauration of its GPT-4o representation exemplary successful March of past year. That’s astir 4.5 times much downloads than it saw for its GPT-4o, GPT-4.5, and GPT-5 exemplary releases, Appfigures pointed out.

Other exemplary releases followed akin trends, though connected a smaller scale. Meta AI’s instauration of its AI video provender Vibes added an estimated 2.6 cardinal incremental downloads successful the 28 days aft its September 2025 release. (Yes, technically, this is simply a video model, but it’s yet astir ocular content, not conscionable text.)

Image Credits:Appfigures

Still, the study cautioned, further downloads don’t ever construe into accrued mobile revenue.

Instead, caller representation exemplary releases springiness radical a crushed to instal the app and effort retired its improved representation procreation capabilities. That doesn’t mean they’ll needfully person to paying subscribers. For example, Appfigures noted that Nano Banana drove lone $181,000 successful estimated gross user spending during the 28-day model pursuing its release, adjacent though it produced a larger spike successful downloads than ChatGPT’s 4o representation exemplary release.

Meta AI’s motorboat of Vibes besides led to further downloads, but nary meaningful revenue.

Among the three, lone ChatGPT turned the accrued attraction into existent dollars.

OpenAI’s 4o representation procreation exemplary led to an estimated $70 cardinal successful gross user spending implicit the 28 days aft its launch, compared with its anterior baseline, Appfigures said.

Image Credits:Appfigures

The institution besides looked astatine DeepSeek successful its analysis, but it didn’t acceptable the pattern.

While DeepSeek R1 drove 28 cardinal downloads aft its January 2025 release, it wasn’t a emblematic exemplary examination event. This was DeepSeek’s breakout moment, erstwhile it went from being comparatively chartless to an overnight sensation arsenic the tech manufacture learned astir the techniques it utilized to bid its AI models astatine a fraction of the outgo of its competitors. This lawsuit highlights however curiosity tin thrust downloads — though successful this instance, the involvement wasn’t tied to an representation model.