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Integrations
BlueZ is the Linux implementation of the bluetooth stack. blueman is basically a GUI for BlueZ with support for different services.
BlueZ provides different low level CLI tools that can be used to test and use similar functionality blueman provides.
blueman was initially developed for BlueZ 4, but now supports version 5 as well. Support for the deprecated version 4 will be dropped in blueman 2.1.
blueman supports using a libnotify compatible notification server. There's a list of implementations in the Arch Linux Wiki. blueman can make use of but does not require a notification daemon that supports actions. In case a notification needs to display actions, but the notification daemon does not claim to support them, blueman uses a built in fallback mechanism. The fallback can be forced by disabling the notification-daemon setting in org.blueman.general e.g. using the dconf-Editor. No notification server at all is required then.
Sending and receiving files is done using an OBEX service via obexd. obexd is an integrated component of BlueZ 5. BlueZ 4 can be used with separate obexd 0.xx packages. Note that receiving files will not work with the later if obexd is started with a custom root path option as blueman cannot find out the effective root path and expects it to be the default /tmp.
blueman can use a file browser for browsing files on a remote device. The command for this can be customized in the local services settings. Most file browsers provide this OBEX FTP support using gvfs which in terms makes use of obex-data-server. This works only with BlueZ 4 and was thus removed from gvfs completely in version 1.23.92. blueman 2.1 will drop support for browsing files.
A couple of blueman features (NAP for example) require elevated privileges, usually root, and uses PolicyKit to manage this. Starting with version 2.1 (unreleased) blueman will not allow everyone to use these features anymore and will requires authentication. See the PolicyKit page how Gnu+Linux distributions can add a PolicyKit rule to allow certain users or groups of users to use them without authentication.
blueman supports using bluetooth audio services through pulseaudio. pulseaudio should pick up connected devices by itself. Note that the pulseaudio bluetooth module is a separate package in some operating systems.
blueman supports different DHCP client software to acquire a lease from a network access point the user connects to: dhclient, dhcpcd, and udhcpc (busybox). The plugin for DHCP client support needs to be enabled. The command that is to be used is selected automatically from what's available. On the other hand it also supports different alternatives to provide a DHCP server over a network the user provides to other bluetooth devices: dnsmasq and dhcpd. You can choose the handler in the local services settings.
blueman supports synchronizing DUN and NAP connections with NetworkManager. The respective plugin needs to be enabled. Switching between the NetworkManager plugins and their respective blueman alternatives can also be done in the local services settings.