Media and productivity apps headed the download charts for apps designed for connected devices on both Apple’s App Store and Google Play in August, according to App Annie.

App Annie looked at the top five apps across six subcategories: Health & Fitness, Media, Productivity, Car, Home and Watch.

The analyst firm noted that 27 of the connected device apps measured that were available a year ago saw downloads increase by an aggregate of 50 per cent on iOS and Google Play in the US over the past 12 months.

This compares with US non-gaming app growth of just 2 per cent over the same period.

The five apps in the Media category (Chromecast, DirecTV, GoPro, AT&T U-verse and Dish Anywhere) accounted for 40 per cent of the downloads measured, with all reaching the top ten for connected device apps.

Productivity apps were dominated by printer and credit card readers and accounted for 30 per cent of downloads, with four titles (HP ePrint, Kodak Kiosk Connect, Square Register and HP All in One Printer Remote) in the top 10.

Health & Fitness was next, followed by Car, Home and Watch, App Annie noted that despite the hype, download figures for the last three are “low”, perhaps reflecting the maturity of the categories.

The top five connected device apps in the Health & Fitness subcategory (Fitbit, Up by Jawbone, Garmin Connect, Nike+ FuelBand and Misfit Shine) saw a 2.3 fold increase in terms of downloads between August 2013 and August 2014. This was a greater increase than connected device apps in other subcategories.

However, App Annie noted that the wearable devices for which these apps are designed need to continue to improve user experience if they are to sustain interest.

Google’s Chromecast, which enables TV programmes to be streamed on smartphones and tablets via a plug-in device, was the most downloaded title over the course of the month. App Annie suggested a low price point for the Chromecast device of $35 boosted downloads.

The companion app for the Fitbit smartband was in second place, followed by DirecTV, HP ePrint, Kodak Kiosk Connect, Square Register, GoPro, AT&T U-verse, Dish Anywhere and HP All in One Printer remote.