Google’s Gemini tops App Store with 3 major visual AI updates

Google’s Gemini AI assistant recently claimed the top spot as the most downloaded app on both Apple’s App Store and Google Play, surpassing OpenAI’s ChatGPT in a significant milestone for Google’s artificial intelligence ambitions. This achievement coincides with Google’s September Gemini Drop, a comprehensive update package that introduces powerful new capabilities across the platform.

Gemini, Google’s flagship AI assistant, competes directly with ChatGPT and other conversational AI tools by offering text generation, image creation, and voice interaction features. For business users and consumers alike, these latest updates represent a substantial leap forward in practical AI functionality, particularly in areas like visual interaction, collaborative AI tools, and web browsing integration.

The September update delivers three major enhancements that transform how users interact with Google’s AI ecosystem, each addressing different aspects of the modern digital workflow.

1. Enhanced Gemini Live with visual awareness

Gemini Live, Google’s voice-based AI interaction feature, has received its most significant upgrade since launch. The enhanced version introduces sophisticated visual awareness capabilities that allow users to point their smartphone camera at objects, documents, or environments while asking questions.

The updated Gemini Live can now analyze what your camera sees and provide contextual guidance by highlighting specific areas of focus. For example, when troubleshooting a technical issue with equipment, the AI can circle problematic components on your screen and explain what to examine. Similarly, when exploring a new city, users can point their camera at landmarks or street signs to receive detailed information about locations, directions, or historical context.

This visual interaction represents a fundamental shift from text-based AI assistance to multimodal support that bridges digital and physical environments. The feature transforms smartphones into intelligent scanning devices that can interpret and explain the world around users in real-time.

The visual awareness functionality is gradually rolling out to Android and iOS devices, with Google prioritizing newer hardware that can handle the computational requirements of real-time image analysis.

2. Shareable Custom Gems for collaborative AI

Google has expanded its Gems feature, which allows users to create specialized AI assistants tailored for specific tasks or industries. Previously available only for individual use, Custom Gems can now be shared across teams and organizations, enabling collaborative AI workflows.

Gems function as personalized versions of Gemini trained for particular roles—think of them as AI specialists that understand specific business contexts, writing styles, or technical requirements. A marketing team might create a “Brand Voice Gem” that maintains consistent messaging across campaigns, while a legal department could develop a “Contract Review Gem” familiar with industry-specific terminology and compliance requirements.

The sharing capability transforms these individual AI tools into organizational assets. Teams can now build institutional knowledge into their AI assistants and distribute that expertise across departments. When a marketing manager creates a Gem that excels at social media content, that same specialized knowledge becomes available to colleagues without requiring them to recreate the training process.

Additionally, Google has integrated Gems with Canvas, its visual development environment, allowing users to build web applications without coding experience. The AI can now interpret visual mockups and user interface descriptions to generate functional web applications, making app development accessible to non-technical team members.

3. Gemini integration in Chrome browser

Desktop users gain access to Gemini directly within their Chrome browser, eliminating the need to switch between applications for AI assistance. This integration introduces several productivity-focused features that leverage the context of open browser tabs and web activity.

The Chrome integration enables users to request summaries of lengthy articles, clarify complex concepts found on websites, or find answers using information from multiple open tabs simultaneously. For research-heavy workflows, this means Gemini can synthesize information from various sources without requiring manual copy-and-paste operations.

The feature launched for U.S. users on September 18, 2024, supporting both Mac and Windows desktop environments with English language settings. Google plans to extend this integration to business customers through Google Workspace in the coming weeks, followed by mobile browser support.

Beyond basic summarization, the Chrome integration connects with other Google services including Calendar, YouTube, and Maps. This interconnectedness allows for sophisticated cross-platform workflows—users might ask Gemini to schedule meetings based on information found in web articles or create YouTube playlists related to research topics discovered during browsing sessions.

Business implications

These updates position Gemini as a comprehensive AI ecosystem rather than a standalone chatbot. The visual awareness capabilities open new possibilities for field service, remote assistance, and educational applications. Shareable Gems enable organizations to develop and distribute specialized AI knowledge, potentially reducing training costs and improving consistency across teams.

The Chrome integration particularly benefits knowledge workers who spend significant time researching and synthesizing information from web sources. By embedding AI assistance directly into the browsing experience, Google eliminates friction that often prevents users from leveraging AI tools effectively.

For businesses evaluating AI adoption strategies, Gemini’s integrated approach across mobile, desktop, and collaborative environments offers a unified platform that could simplify vendor management and user training compared to managing multiple specialized AI tools.

The competitive landscape intensifies as Google’s App Store victory demonstrates shifting user preferences in the rapidly evolving AI assistant market, suggesting that integrated, multi-modal AI experiences may increasingly outperform text-only alternatives.