What is Nanobanana?
Nanobanana is the official brand name for Google’s advanced image generation and editing feature update within the Gemini application.
While its underlying model is officially known as Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, the name “Nanobanana” originated as an internal codename that became widely popular during public testing. Google has since embraced the name for this powerful update, which is now integrated directly into the Gemini app and other Google services like Vertex AI.
Nanobanana is distinguished from basic text-to-image tools by its advanced capabilities. These include high-fidelity image editing using natural language, multi-image fusion (blending two or more images), maintaining character and style consistency across multiple generations, and a more accurate understanding of text within images.
Think of it This Way
If Gemini is your super-smart assistant, ‘Nanobanana’ is the brand new, top-of-the-line ‘Photoshop plugin’ you just bought for them, eh? It’s the specific, creative tool you tell them to use when you want high-end, ‘bananas’ visual work done—and you need it five minutes ago.
Why It Matters for You
As a small business owner, you don’t have time to mess around with complicated design software. Nanobanana is like having that in-house graphic designer on call. Instead of just getting a generic stock photo, you can perform specific edits that are crucial for your marketing. You can take a photo of your actual product and say, “Put this on a beach,” or “Change the background to a 1980s retro style,” without ever leaving the chat window.
Example: Advanced Creative Control
Let’s say you want to make a fun, retro-style post for your hardware store using your own photo. You’re not a graphic designer, but you have a smartphone.
- Your Prompt: “Take this photo of me standing in front of the store and turn it into a retro-style mall studio portrait, 1980s preppy style.”
- The Result: The Nanobanana feature intelligently analyzes your photo and artistically restyles it, keeping your face and key features consistent while changing the background and “vibe.” It’s a pro-level graphic in seconds.
Key Takeaways
- Nanobanana is the official Google brand name for its latest image generation and editing update in Gemini.
- It is not a separate app; it’s the image feature within Gemini.
- Its key strengths are advanced image editing, multi-image fusion (blending photos), and character consistency.
- It is designed to be fast (‘nano’) and highly creative (‘bananas’), which led to its viral name.
Go Deeper
- See the tool it lives in: Read our definition of Gemini (the tool that runs Nanobanana).
- Understand how AI creates images: Learn about the core technology in our definition of Generative AI.
- Learn about models that handle images and text: See what a Multimodal Model is.