All the charts on tws are also crap, so I use YCharts / Yahoo Finance / BigCharts / BarChart For visualizing option spreads just do it in your head.
I have aphantasia, meaning no ability to visualize (or hallucinate for that matter). And I trade quite complex option combos with up to 6 legs, though split into smaller orders. I use TDA for some of this, as well as wrote my own program for displaying options performance charts but no time to create options entry/selection GUI. While when I place manual orders in IB I just need to see what I'm doing and quickly review several alternatives, plan my exits, etc. Later I also review my positions. I think this or any type of options graphs are essential feature for trading options and part of every options trading software, as no one should simply trade some combos without understanding what they're doing. Every article about options also includes such graphs. I'm actually surprised no one else is complaining, but I also suspect that many people simply do not report such issues to IB and trade less options, or look for different platforms. And this issue occurs maybe 20% of the time in my case, so doesn't apply to every spread or combo. But I do run into it with ratio spreads and butterflies, which are simple strategies. At least now I have a ticket open with IB and may get some updates.
I see these issues less often now but still see them occasionally, while other TWS users are also reporting this problem online: https://www.elitetrader.com/et/thre...e-profile-performance-data-is-invalid.343967/ What's most weird is that IB seems to be creating those charts on their servers, always causing them to be slow, delayed, internally connecting to IB servers just to create a chart. Especially as when they fix the problem, they fix it on their servers, without updating the app, but later it may happen again or under different circumstances. All other software I've seen creates such charts instantly and directly on the desktop. I even wrote a simple app to create my own performance charts now on my desktop, though I still need to use IB's since that's where I'm entering my orders and need to confirm what I'm trading. There are also online and mobile apps that do this, so it's not that difficult, while IB is unable to create such basic and important feature for years. If/when you have similar issues then post screenshot(s). Maybe one day IB will fix this permanently.
My main trading account is with TDA/Thinkorswim. I've recently opened a few test accounts with different brokers. I like IBKR, but I'm not impressed with it. I have an issue with the performance graph and not being able to see the profile based on the price of my limit order. The IBKR defaults to the natural price and I am not aware of how to change that, or if it can be changed.
That seems like a different issue, which seems to be "built-in" as a supposed feature, I guess. I also would like to change the purchase option/combo price for that chart, but it's not possible. IB simply assumes worst-case scenario. Many people actually use TDA/ToS performance graphs, specifically because ToS allows for adjusting various parameters. I also run ToS as my 2nd platform, just for some of their charts, scans and features. No platform is perfect, though actually using them together, ToS for analysis and IB for trading, are quite powerful and common.
Do you find ycharts to be too expensive, for what it is? The cheap version is something like $200/month?