LAS VEGAS (AP) — Googling the nearest gas station, sending email from your smartphone, or booking a table at a restaurant: Those are all things you shouldn’t do while driving. But so many drivers have grown accustomed to their on-the-go tasks that automakers are increasingly trying to make those things easier to pull off with both hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road.

As General Motors and Ford commissioned ideas from app makers this week, the possibilities for what you can do with your vehicle’s steering wheel buttons, microphone, speakers and internal gauges are quickly expanding.

At the International CES show, General Motors and Ford launched programs that will open their designs to developers, inviting them to create software applications for future car models. It’s a relatively new strategy for car makers, but one that many gadget manufacturers employ, including Apple, which did it for the original iPhone in 2007.

The programs free the automakers from having to keep pace with new technologies by tying the functionality of their cars’ internal systems to advances in smartphones.

In some ways, though, the current systems inside cars have a long way to go to provide the functionality that smartphones have offered for years.

For instance, in a demo of Ford’s new integration with music service Rhapsody, you can wirelessly sync your phone with the car and listen to playlists you have already created by pressing the voice button on the steering wheel and saying “play playlist one.”

But you can’t just choose a track by voice on a whim, which is part of what makes these unlimited streaming plans attractive even at $10 a month.

General Motors showed off its new relationship with Apple’s Siri voice assistant, which is newly integrated in some of its cars including the Chevy Spark. Siri, however, only linked up to the car’s speaker and microphone and didn’t offer access to the car’s inner systems.

Rhapsody CEO Jon Irwin said that it’s really just the beginning for automakers to work more closely with high-tech content providers.

When it comes to integrating new driver-friendly advancements, American automakers are playing catch-up to their Asian counterparts.

Hyundai’s Blue Link technology syncs with iPhones and Android devices already and allows users to check their car’s maintenance data like tire pressure, fluids and the condition of airbags on their mobile devices. The service debuted in 2011 on its Sonata and is expanding to a wider range of vehicles. Voice-activated control of third-party music apps isn’t integrated yet, but the company is exploring using Google’s Android software to do so.

Toyota’s use of voice is the most advanced of the auto providers, even though it had nothing new to show at this year’s CES.

When it upgraded its Entune service for Toyota cars and Enform for its Lexus line at CES last year, drivers got the ability to use their voice to control several key apps, allowing them to say, for example, “Adele” to the iHeart Radio or Pandora app to create a custom station with tracks from the British singer and others who sound similar.

Given that Google, Toyota and others have been testing driverless cars, it’s not hard to imagine the day when your smartphone will hear your stomach gurgle, get Burger King to send you a coupon, and then guide the car up to the drive-thru window for a quick bite.