Hands-on with Android Auto in the 2015 Hyundai Sonata

Hyundai and Google were on the floor at the Connected Car Expo preceding the 2014 LA Auto Show to demonstrate the upcoming Android Auto in-car app-integration software.

An off-shoot of Android 5.0 Lollipop, Android Auto rolls in Google Now's contextual info cards. Its home screen displays scrollable data about weather, commute times, traffic and more.

Google's voice search and text-to-speech figures heavily into in-car interaction with Android Auto.

Ask Google to take you to the airport, for example, and within moments Google Maps will be giving turn-by-turn directions.

Today marks our first interaction with third-party apps in Android Auto. A newly released API allows developers of audio and messaging apps to adapt their software for the car.

Audio apps feature a simplified interface that places large buttons at the forefront.

With the exception of color palette changes and a few menu tweaks, all of Android Auto's audio apps look pretty much the same.

Google says that it's aiming for simplicity and interface consistency with this first generation of Android Auto apps, which should help limit driver distraction.