In most cases, those apps are all waste of time. If I'm sure about it, these apps you are referring to do have tons of advertisements.
Unfortunately, no one can even confirm if they are paying since no one can even reach the requirements to become eligible for the payment.
Some users will advance fast on their early progress but when it's only at least 1-2% needed to complete the required tier, that's the time something not right will happened and the progress will stuck now, for let's say 98%.
How real are some of these winnings/earnings, incase anyone has had luck cashing their gaming/other apps wins to real cash/gift item?
We can give you much better and more accurate responses if you can give examples of the apps you are referring to.
But as I mentioned, mostly it's a waste of time.