Google says goodbye to the Remix banana emoji in latest Messages app beta

What you need to know

• Google is toning down the visual appearances of Remix in Messages.
• The banana emoji, used to denote Nano Banana, is being removed from Remix in Google Messages buttons.
• The change comes after users complained about Remix, prompting Google to respond earlier this month.

Nano Banana is Google's premier image-generation model, and it powers features across the Google ecosystem in apps like Gemini, NotebookLM, and recently, Google Messages. With the new Remix feature in Google Messages, users can find Nano Banana image editing and generation features right in their conversations. Although the feature is opt-in, Remix in Google Messages is publicly displayed throughout the app, complete with a banana emoji signifying Nano Banana.

After the Remix in Google Messages feature launched in November, it was not received well by Android fans, with many criticizing Remix on Reddit. By December 2025, Google responded to the criticism in a support post.

"Thank you for sharing your feedback about the Remix feature in Messages. We hear you," wrote a Google community manager in the post.
Our team is actively working on improvements and refining the feature to make it smoother, more user-friendly, and enjoyable for everyone. Stay tuned for updates!"

Now, Google is toning down the look of Remix in version 20251212_00_RC01 of the Google Messages app beta, according to 9to5Google. After opening an image in full-screen view, the pill-shaped Remix button with a banana emoji is now completely removed. Instead, there's a general circle button for Remix that lives next to the reaction and comment buttons in Messages. This circular button has a sparkle emoji, instead of a banana emoji, to denote the AI-powered features.

Holding down an image in a Google Messages conversation still reveals a pill-shaped Remix icon, but it's smaller. Additionally, the banana emoji is replaced with an image icon featuring an AI sparkle. The Remix in Messages feature still works as expected, but the visual cues are less busy with the redesigned buttons.

It remains to be seen whether Google Messages users will appreciate the redesigned Remix interface. Critics of the feature complained that there is no way to disable Remix in Messages completely, and this visual change doesn't address that part of the issue. For now, Google Messages users will be saying goodbye to the Nano Banana emoji.