• Source:JND
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Google Gemini’s Nano Banana feature, which first went viral for creating playful 3D-style portraits, is now trending worldwide for something far more meaningful.Users are discovering its ability to restore, refine, and colourise old photographs, bringing treasured memories back to life.

Social media buzz turns sentimental.

The feature recently gained global attention after people began sharing before-and-after images of family portraits and historical photos.What started as a fun trend has quickly become an emotional movement online.

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The official X account of the Google Gemini app acknowledged the wave of nostalgia, posting, “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 colourising old photos.”

Reviving history and family albums

One striking example came from Thomas, a user who restored a couple’s portrait dating back to 1890.Once faded and blurred, the image was transformed into a vivid, colourised version that looked like it was taken yesterday.

Another example, shared by Jay Rodge, showed vintage photos of a Southeast Asian couple that had been given new life through Gemini’s colourisation.Derya Unutmaz also highlighted how historical photos could be revived, proving the tool’s value beyond personal archives.

Some users are even taking restorations further.Hus, for instance, restored a family portrait and then animated it using Veo 3, making past generations move again in the digital era.

A surge in popularity

Between 26 August and 9 September, Gemini’s Nano Banana tool helped the app add more than 23 million new users.In that same span, people created over 500 million images with it.

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The explosion in usage has been so dramatic that Gemini has overtaken OpenAI’s ChatGPT to become the most popular free app on both the App Store and Google Play.