Short answer

Any reasonably current Android phone or iPhone will run Civic.ly. You do not need expensive or specialist hardware, and budget Android handsets (around the £120 mark) work perfectly well.

On the buy-versus-use-their-own question: the approach that works best for most councils is to let staff use their own phones and pay them a small monthly allowance, typically £5 to £10, towards their bill. It is usually the most cost-effective option by some distance.

Detail

What the app actually needs. A phone running a current version of Android or iOS, with a camera and location services switched on. That is genuinely it. Location matters more than you might expect, because photos taken with GPS enabled drop your assets onto the map automatically instead of you placing each one by hand. The setup steps are in How to Configure Your Mobile Device.

Why an allowance usually beats buying handsets:

  • People already have better phones than a council would buy. A staff member's own phone is typically newer, faster and better-cameraed than a bulk-procured work handset.
  • They upgrade more often. Your "estate" stays current on its own, with no refresh cycle, no budget line, and no drawer of ageing phones.
  • Staff are generally happy with it. A few pounds a month against a bill they are already paying is welcome, and it avoids the nuisance of carrying two phones.
  • No upfront capital and no procurement exercise, which for a smaller council is often the deciding factor on its own.

Practical points worth settling before you roll out:

  • Agree the allowance properly through payroll or expenses so it is documented, rather than an informal arrangement.
  • Keep a couple of council handsets as a fallback. Some staff will not want to use a personal phone, and that is a reasonable position. Do not make BYOD the only route.
  • When someone leaves, what matters is the account, not the phone. Remove or reassign their Civic.ly user and their access goes with it. There is nothing council-owned sitting on the device afterwards.
  • If a crew shares one phone, give each person their own login anyway, so the record shows who did what. See giving shared-device workers their own login.

Watch-outs

  • Check your own BYOD or acceptable-use policy. Council data on a personal device is something most councils cover in their acceptable use policy, and it is worth a word with whoever handles data protection for you before you roll it out. This is a policy question for your council rather than a Civic.ly one, but it is far easier to settle up front than after the fact.
  • Do not over-specify. Councils sometimes assume field work needs rugged or specialist devices and spend accordingly. For Civic.ly it does not. An ordinary phone in a decent case covers it.
  • Make sure location and camera permissions are actually granted on each phone before the team goes out, whoever owns the device. This is the most common reason a first day in the field goes badly.