If you use Pixel Studio, know that your last prompt was your final one if you updated to the latest version. The app has been shut down by Google, with its features now folded into Gemini.
The newest update for the app, Pixel Studio version 2.3, is its killer. It nukes the app and redirects users to Gemini for Nano Banana to handle AI image creation and editing.
You won’t find any word of the update’s purpose in the release notes for it, though news of its demise started to spread back in February.
For anyone who updated to version 2.3 and has stickers and images in their library, they can still access as well as share them. But for any changes, they’ll have to be imported into the Gemini app.
The app still works for anyone who has held off on the update.
Everything is Gemini now
The move to discontinue Pixel Studio is more part of Google’s rolling up all of its AI offerings under Gemini than another unwelcome trip to the infamous Google graveyard.
Pixel Studio debuted two years ago for the Pixel 9 and 10 series (and briefly was expanded to the Pixel 8 series). Its listing on the Play Store isn’t the picture of a fan favorite. It has 2.9 stars, with most people saying they used it to make stickers. One person sums up their review with “ it’s just a bit of a party trick, not much more.”
While the app won’t be the most missed, the cost difference between Pixel Studio and Gemini might make memories of it a little more fond. Pixel Studio allowed for unlimited image generation and editing at no cost. Gemini, on the other hand, is limited, with a menu of plans at the ready for regular users.
Google added visual tasks to Gemini with the introduction of Nano Banana in August of last year. It’s now in its second generation and has seen welcome improvements like sharper images.
Of course, the world is not short of AI image generators beyond Nano Banana in Gemini. ChatGPT, Adobe Firefly, Canva, and many others all handle the same tasks that Pixel Studio could.
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