Picked this game up a couple of days ago.
Here's some tips I've been using myself:
P.S. Read unless you want to make your own mistakes
- Duplicants
Only pick duplicants when you actually need them. The best ones have a single stat. At first, you'll need a digger, scientist, and constructor. You'll basically want one for each job, depending on your priorities.
- Getting things done
Use priority tab. Have only one dedicated cook, the rest is based on skills.
Use scheduling tab. Duplicate existing schedule and shift it a bit. Make it so only half of your duplicates sleep or use the bathroom at a time.
- Power/Oxygen
Connect a wheel to 2 batteries, connect them to a single diffuser. This will be enough oxygen for a long while.
To deal with CO2, just dig down. It will sink to the bottom
- Food
Want food? Go digging. Want more food? Plant Mealwood on dedicated farming tiles. It doesn't require much at all to grow.
- Germs
Make a dedicated bathroom. 4 toilets, 4 sinks. Make sure it fits one of the dedicated room. On sinks change the arrow so that duplicant only wash hands on their way out.
Separate everything into dedicated rooms for bonuses, btw.
- Water and pollution
Make 2 reservoirs. One for clean water, one for polluted in an enclosed environment. Clean polluted water with Water Sieve and polluted air from the reservoir with Deodoriser.
There's also more advanced stuff like making chlorine rooms or liquid airlocks, but I haven't gotten there myself yet.

What I myself don't understand about the whole "I have to go into the settings" spiel is that... How is it a disadvantage?
Modern games pick predetermined settings based on your PC hardware anyway. Don't want to tinker? Don't. You have that option, and it works well.
What you also have is an option to change those settings to YOUR preference. This isn't available on consoles, is it?