FWIW, the way my Android device responds to this is:
* I receive a notification about a new SMS message.
* I tap the notification to go to my SMS program.
* The SMS message says I have a MMS message waiting, tap here to download.
* If I tap it, it fails but allows me to try again.
* If I turn cell data on before tapping, it works, then I manually turn cell data off again after the download completes.
I keep cell data off except for brief times when I'm explicitly using the network. This is easy to do since cell data can be toggled quickly by pulling down from the top and tapping an icon.
FWIW, the way my Android device responds to this is:
* I receive a notification about a new SMS message.
* I tap the notification to go to my SMS program.
* The SMS message says I have a MMS message waiting, tap here to download.
* If I tap it, it fails but allows me to try again.
* If I turn cell data on before tapping, it works, then I manually turn cell data off again after the download completes.
I keep cell data off except for brief times when I'm explicitly using the network. This is easy to do since cell data can be toggled quickly by pulling down from the top and tapping an icon.